documenting my journey from a stable, professional career to a traveler around the world

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Day 203 - Olympic Stadium/Museum and Monjuvic

Another day of wandering around Barcelona, except I really wanted to check out the Olympic stadium since we passed by it on our Hop On Hop Off bus tour a couple of days ago. I used the Metro to get to the Espanya stop and upon heading up the stairs to the Placa d'Espanya, I immediately saw the Arenas de Barcelona, which was a old bullfighting ring that was converted into a shopping center. What was cool was that you could take a lift up to the top and get some great views of the city, including the Venetian Towers, MNAC, and the Parc de Joan Miro.

Afterwards, I headed north towards the MNAC museum, taking in more incredible views of Barcelona. I was in the "Monjuvic" district of the city which is higher in altitude than much of the rest of the city. I went up further up until I found the old 1992 Olympic stadium. I don't remember too much of the '92 olympics, but I've always been a fan of the spirit and excitement of being an Olympic spectator, even if it's just through a television screen. It was cool to actually see the stadium where athletes from around the world marched during opening and closing ceremonies and won gold medals. Next to the stadium was an Olympic Museum, which had a good collection of Olympic memorabilia and video and photo archives.

Next to the Olympic Stadium/Museum was the Fundacion Miro and some well-maintained park space at the Park de Montjuvic where I took a stroll for a while. I was waiting for the sun to go down before heading to the Magic Fountains, where they had light and sound shows to Christmas tracks even 30 minutes. Not as powerful and eye-catching as the Bellagio fountains in Vegas or World of Color at Disney's California Adventure, but still fun to watch and remind myself that Christmas is coming!